Apparatus for filling containers with carbonated liquid



July y(5, 191.65 I R..H. BREEBACK 3,192,966 y .A I'PARATUS FOR FILLINGCONTAINERS WITH CARBONATED LIQUID Y Filed Feb. '20, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet1 -iVm@ uni July 6, 1955 R. H. BREEBACK v 3,192,966

PPARATS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH CARBONATED LIQUID 5 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Feb. 20, 1963 July 6, 1965 R. H. BREEBACK 3,192,966

APPARATUS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH CARBONATED LIQUID Filed Feb. 20,1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 /00 APPARATUS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH vCARBONATED LIQUID Rudolph H. Breeback, Baltimore, Md., assignor to CrownCork & Seal Company, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of New YorkFiled Feb. 20, 1963, Ser. No. 259,822 l12 Claims. (Cl. 141-56) Thepresent 4invention relates to an apparatus for filling containers with acarbonated liquid and, more particularly, to an apparatus to Yprovide aVquiet filling of containers with carbonated liquids.

In the ,filling of containers with carbonated liquids, for example, beeror soft drinks, it has beenthe practice to first place the emptycontainer under pressure slightly less than, the same as, or slightlymore than `the Vpressure at which the carbonated liquid is subsequentlyfiowed into the container. This stage of the filling cycle is known inthe art as counter-pressure stage. Once a container has been placedunder counter-pressure, then the carbonated liquid is owed into thecontainer while thegas within the container is vented from the same to abody of gas under pressure. It has vbeen the usual practice to vent thegas back to the reservoir of the filling machine whichcontains thecarbonated liquid under a superposed body of gas at a predeterminedpressure. In some carbonated liquid filling systems, the venting of gasfrom the container diiiers in that the gas is vented to a body of gasunder pressure separate from the body of gas superposed above the liquidin the filling machine reservoir. In my prior United States Patent No.2,953,- 169, there is disclosed one such system for a separatecounter-pressuring and venting of the container. The system of myaforementioned patent produces a high quality product, as the product isnot contaminated with shop air either in the containers or in thereservoir. Once the filling andventing stage has been completed, thecontainer is then removed from the filling head of the rfilling machineand is immediately closed by applying a crown if the same is a bottle orby seaming a can end thereto if the same is a can. In some instances,it'is desirable to relieve the pressure in the head space of thecontainer prior to vbreaking the seal of the container with the fillinghead. This practice is known as snifting and usually is accomplished inhigh pressure filling by placing the head space into open communicationwith atmosphere.

In recent years, the height of till in a lcontainer being filled with acarbonated liquid has been accurately and uniformly controlled by meansof a ball float adapted to close the vent passage when the liquid in thecontainer has reached a predetermined height. The result of closing offthe vent passage causes pressure to build up in the head space of thecontainer and stop the ow of liquid into the container. When this hasbeen accomplished, the filling valve of the filling head is then movedto positively shut off the liquid ow and gas flow` passages and thecontainer is then lowered away from sealing engagement with the fillinghead. Such ball lioats used with filling heads for controlling theheight of fill are disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,794,455 toDay and Breeback and my United States Patents No. 2,770,263 issuedNovember 13, 1956 and No. 2,953,169 dated September 20, 1960. However,the use of the ball float as a valve to close orf .the lower end of thevent passage has had some difficulty especially in high speed operationof rotary filling machines as the containers are quickly lowered awayfrom the filling head and the pressure trapped behind the ball float orthat pressure in the vent line between the ball float and the fillingvalve, when the filling valve is moved Vto Vclosed position, isdischarged Vdownwardly into the liquid just as the container breaks itsseal.

This surge `of gas into the filled container causes an agitation ordisturbance of the-carbonated liquid therein Vresulting in foaming andshort-filled containers. Because short-filled'containers must berejected and the contents of the same cannot be saved, the lossesresulting from such short-filled containers over aperiodof time becomequite substantial. Y

`An important object of theV present invention is the provision of afilling machine in which the `filling cycle for carbonated liquids isimproved in `that `a quiet fill is obtained especially during :thecritical Yportion `of the filling cycle, that is, breaking-,the seal ofthe container from the filling head.

Another object of the presentinvention is .'toprovide'an improvedfilling machine for filling containers with carbonated liquids, thefilling machine having an .improved filling head resulting in a fillingcycle which is shorter, thus, increasing output capacity of the fillingsystem and reducing the possibility of producing foaming containers orcontainers of short fill.

A further object of the present invention `is to provide an improvedfilling machine for filling containers with carbonated liquid,.thefilling machinehaving means thereon for reducing the pressure in thevent passages `prior to .the container being brokenaway from the fillinghead.

A still further object and advantage of the :present invention is toprovide an improved filling head havinga valve arrangement thereon whichresults in easier removal of the ,filled container from sealingengagement :with the head.

These and other objects and advantages of the -invention will Vappearmore fully in the following specification, claims and accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a filling head of the present.invention Awith parts being shown in section and in broken `lines forthe purpose of .clarity and with vthe lower portion of the filling headbeing omitted;

FIGURE 2 isa sectional view of the lower portion of the filling head ofFIGURE 1, the view showing a container supported on acontainer-'supporting platform and in sealing engagement with thefillinghead; l

FIGURE 3 is -a vertical sectional view ofthe filling head, partly inelevation and taken substantially on Athe line 3-3 of FIGURE -1, theview additionally illustrating the filling head attached to a portion ofa filling machine shown Vin phantom lines;

FIGURE 4is an elevational view similar to FIGURE l of the filling headof the present invention but showing the movement of the Yfilling valveelement and its operating arms through 4the various stages of thefilling cycle;

FIGURE 5 is a rear elevational view ofthe disc'valve element of thefilling head of the present invention;

FIGURE-6 is a sectional lview taken on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5; V

FIGURE 7 is a front elevational view of the seat fac of the body memberof the filling head;

FIGURES is a ysectional view taken on the line 8-8 of FIGURE 7 andexposing the gas packages for venting gas from the container;

' FIGURE 9 is `a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of`FIGURE. 7 and illustrating the liquid passage from the seat face of andthrough the body member of the filling head,vthis passage beingconnected to the reservoir ofthe filling machine.

Referring nowto the drawings wherein like character and referencernumerals represent like or similar parts, and, more particularly, toFIGURES 1, '2 and 3, the filling head of the present'invention isgenerallydesignated at 1'0 and includes a body member 12 having adownwardly extending nozzle portion 14 and a disc-type valve 16cooperating with y'the body element andmovable Patented July 6, 1965engages to various positions during the filling cycle of a container. Inmore detail, the filling head i@ is secured to the eripheral flange 18of a reservoir carrying superstructure Ztl of a rotary filling machine(not shown). The superstructure 2i) carries a reservoir 26 forcarbonated liquid 'L and a superposed body of gas G under pressure. Thegas G is usually lcarbon dioxide. The rotary filling machine may be ofthe type disclosed in myaforementioned United States Patent No.2,953,169, and it will be understood that a plurality of such fillingheads 1) are carried about the periphery of the flange i8. Usually,there are 60 to 72 of such lling heads. A containerV supporting platform22 is positioned immediately beneath and in alignment with each fillinghead 16, the platform being vertically -reciprocable in a rotary fillingtabloid. The container supporting platforms 22 are moved upwardly anddownwardly in any suitable manner such as by air pressure cylinders onthe platform or by cams in thetpath of rotation of the filling table 2d,the motion of the platforms being in timed sequence with infeedconveyors, movement of the filling valve in the filling head and takeoffconveyors.

In brief, infeed conveyors feed containers C successively to thecontainer supporting platforms 22. as they pass an inteed station andthe platforms immediately elevate the container vertically until the lipof the container is in sealing engagement with the lower end of thedownwardly extending nozzle portion 14 of' filling head 10. The fillingvalve element 16 is then rotated to a position where the container isplaced under counter-pressure. In this position, the liquid passagesthrough the filling `head are closed to fiow of liquid but gas underpressure, either from the superposed body of gas G of reservoir 2d orfrom a separate body of gas under pressure is flowed through a gaspassage in the filling head into the container. The gas passage throughthe filling head may be the same gas passage used for subsequentlyventing gas from the container or it may be a separate gas passage.After the pressure of the gas in the container has built up to a desiredpressure, the lling valve element i6 is then moved to a filling and ventposition wherein the liquid passage through the filling head is openedto flow and the gas passage for venting the gas from the container isopened to flow. Carbonated liquid from reservoir 26 is flowed intothe-container C, and as the level `of liquid in the container C rises,the gas Within the container. C is vented through the gas passage of thekfilling head to a body of gas under pressure, for example, thesuperposed body of gas G above the liquid in the reservior 26 or to aseparate body of gas under pressure as disclosed in my aforementionedUnited States Patent No. 2,953,169. Once the container C has been filledto a desired level, the level being controlled by the rise of liquid inthe container to-a point where the venting of gas therefrom is stopped,the filling valve element i6 is moved tothefshutofi stage :where theliquid passage and gas passages are positively closed to flow at pointsspaced from the container C. The container supporting platform 22 isthen lowered tobreak the seal of the container Ctwith the filling head,and the filled container is transferred from the platform onto thetake-off conveyor where it is suitably closed. Y

The present invention in its broadest sense involves the reducing of thepressure in the gasvent passage after the filling valve 16 has beenmoved to the shut-ofi stage. A certain amount of gas pressure is usuallytrapped in the vent passage and in the present invention, such ventpassage below the point where the filling valve closes the same, isvented 4to atmosphere so that when the seal of the container with the'filling head il) is broken, there will be'no sudden surge or spurt ofgas `downwardly onto the surface of the liquid. This completelyeliminates foaming of the container due to agitation of the carbon-y benecessary in such filling machine installations which utilize ahigh-pressure filling system. In installations where the liquid in thereservoir of the filling machine is under a pressure of the superposedbody of gas in the excess of, for example, thirty pounds per squareinch, the industry considers the machine to be a high-pressure system.Usually in such systems it is also necessary to directly snift the headspace of the container to atmosphere to reduce the pressure therein. Onthe other hand, where the system is a low-pressure system, for example,a system where the pressure on the liquid in the reservoir is less thanthirty pounds per square inch but higher than atmospheric pressure, ithas been generally found unnecessary to snift the head space of thecontainer prior to breaking the seal of the container with the fillinghead.

The embodimerof the invention which will be described hereinafter indetail is intended for use in filling flat-top containers such as canswith carbonated liquids such as soft drinks or beer. However, thespecific structure of the filling head disclosed herein may be modifiedfor ".lling containers other than cans, and it will also be appreciatedby those skilled in the art that the particular filling valve describedin connection with the filling head can be other than that which isknown as a disctype valve.

ln more detail, the body member l2 of filling head l@ is provided with arear substantially planar face 28 which is bolted to the Vouter planarface Eil of the flange or mounting plate l. A gasket 3.?. is interposedbetween the faces Z and 35. The outer, surface of the body member 12 iscircularly recessed as indicated at 34 and a gasket is positioned inrecess so that theouter surface of the gasket forms a seat face 3S. A sud dit projecting centrally from the seat face 33 of the valve body 212is adapted to rotatably receive the disc valve ll. Spring means d?,inthe nut i4 retain the disc valve 16 on the stud da with the properamount of pressure being exerted by the face 36 of the valve against theseat face 38 of the body member.

Referring now specifically to FIGURES 2 and 3, it will be noted that thedownwardly extending nozzle portion 14 of the body member l2. isdetachably secured to the body member by a ring nut 46. The lower faceof the nozzle portion isi is substantially horizontal and is providedwith a compressible sealing ring or gasket 46 which is adapted to beengaged by the head of the top of, the container C.

Referring now te FIGURES 7, Sand 9it will be noted that the body memberi2 is provided with a first liquid passage 5@ which opcns'on the seatface at 52. vThe other end of passage 5t? is provided with an enlargedrecess 54 having aball therein to serve asa check valve in case acontainer leaks or does not seat properly against the sealing ring d,the ball closing the liquid passage from the reservoir in a knownmanner. The recess 54 receives one end of a conduit 58 which connectsthe liquid passage 5d in the body member l2 to the lower portion Vofliquider" the reservoir 26 as indicated at 6G in FIG- Body member` 12also includes a gas passage 62 extending from the seat face at 64 to therear planar face rlhe gas passage 62 communicates with a passage 65(FIGURE 3) in the mounting plate or ring i8, the passage 65 in turncommunicating with a body oftgas under pressure such as the superposedbody of gas G above the liquid L in reservoir 26. While the presentembodiment of filling head is shown with only one gas passagetherethrough, it being understood that said gas passage can be used tosupply gas'under pressure to the container during the counter-pressurestage and to vent gas from the container duringgthe filling stage, italso being within the scope of the present, invention to use separatepassages through theV body member, one being for gas during thecounter-pressure stage and the other being for the venting of gas duringthe filling stage as is known in the art.

The downwardly depending nozzle portion 14 ofthe body member 12 isprovided with a liquid passage 66 (FIGURE 2) opening at the seat face asindicated at 68 (FIGURES 1, 4 and 7). The liquid passage 66 may extendinto a plurality of branches 70 each having a nozzle tip 72 for flowingliquid into the containers and down the side walls of the same. A pairof branch gas passages 74 and 76 extending from the seat face at 78 and80 respectively connect with a gas passage 82 which extends downwardlythrough the nozzle portion 14 to an enlarged chamber or recess 84. Atubular fitting 86 is carried in the enlarged recess 84 and is providedwith an annular seat 88 for a ball oat 90. The ball fioat 90 issupported within a cage member 92 detachably supported by the nozzleportion 14 in the recess `84.

Referring now to FIGURES 5 andr6 of the drawings, it will be noted thatthe valve member 16 is provided with the usual operating arms 94 and 96for engaging suitable cams positioned in their path of movement with therotary superstructure, the cams rotating the valve member 16 on the stud40. FIGURE 5, which is a rear elevational view of the disc valve element16 discloses the face 36 of the same which cooperates with the seat face38 of the body member 12. It will be noted the valve member 16 isprovided with a liquid passage 98 opening to the face 36 at the openings100 and at 102. The passage 98 is made by milling out a portion of theseat face 36 as shown in FIGURE 6 and rounding the corners as indicatedat 104 and 106. The milled out portion for the passage 98 is providedwith a shoulder as indicated at 108, and a plate 110 having aperturestherein which define the openings 100 and 102 respectively is then,brazed or soldered into position. By forming the liquid passage 98 inthis manner, such liquid passage may be made entirely smooth withsuitable curves in the same at the points where it changes direction,thereby providing for the smooth ow of carbonated liquid therethrough.By eliminating burrs and sharp changes of direction in the liquidpassage in the valve member` 16, turbulence in the carbonated liquid isreduced, thereby increasingthe overall effectiveness of the filling headfor a quiet fill.

Valve member 16 is also provided with a gas passage 112 therethroughwhich has openingsto the seat face 36 at three places as indicated at114, 116 and 118. The purpose of providing the three openings or ports114, 116 and 118 will be more fully explained later in thespecification. l

The valve member 16 is also provided with a passage 120 opening to thevalve face 36 at 122 and to atmosphere through a tubular fitting 124 asindicated at 126. The passage 120 is adapted to have its opening orrport122 on .the seat 36 aligned with the opening or port 78 in the bodymember 12 when the valve 16 is `in the shut-off' position or stage sothat the gas passage 82 between the seat face 38 and the ball float 90is vented to atmosphere. A more detailed discussion of this feature ofthe present invention will appear later in the specification.

Body member 12 isrprovided with a fitting 128 which has a lug 130thereon. The lug 130 provides a stop to prevent overtravel of the valveelement at the limits of rotation of the same. In more detail, when thevalve member 16 is rotated to the shut-oli position as shown in FIGURE1, a radially extending lug 132 on the valve member 16 engages the lug130 to prevent overtravel. When a cam strikes the lower operating ar-m96, it will move the valve member 16 clockwise as viewed in FIG- URE 4to the counter-pressure stage and then a second cam striking the arm 96will move the valve member 16 further clockwise to the filling andventing stage. In the `filling and venting stage, as shown in brokenlines in FIGURE 4, the tubular fitting 124 which provides the outlet 126to atmosphere for the passage 120, extends above the periphery of thevalve member and acts as a stop to prevent overtravel of the valvemember 16.

'The operation of the filling-head 10 and the filling machine of thepresent invention may be described as follows:

An empty container C is moved onto the filling platform 22 of the rotaryfilling table 24 from an infeed conveyor at a suitable infeed station.The platform 22 `with .the empty container C thereon is then movedvertically as the table 24 rotates until the upper lip or edge of thecontainer engages the resilient ring or gasket 48 of the filling head 10immediately thereabove and makes a Iseal therewith. While this isoccurring, the filling valve 16 of filling head 10 is in the shut-ofiposition identified on FIGURE 4 by a letter A. It will be noted that theopenings or ports 100 and 102 of liquid passage 98 in filling valve 16are not in alignment with the openings or ports 52 and 68 for the liquidpassages 50 and 66 respectively of the body member 12. Likewise, the gaspassage 112 in the filling valve member 16 has its openings or ports114, 116 and 118 out of alignment with the openings or ports 78 and forgas passages 62 and 65. However, the passage 120 i has its opening orport 122 in open communication with the opening or port 78 on the seatface 38 of body member 12 and thus places the gas passage 82 from theball float to the seat face in open communication with atmosphere.

When the filling valve member 16 is moved to the position indicated bythe letter B shown in FIGURE 4, the liquid passage 98 is moved clockwiseabout the axis of stud 40 but still has its openings or ports 100 `and102 on Ithe face 36 out of alignment with the -openings or ports 52 and68 respectively on the face 38 of body member 12. The gas passage 112 inthe filling valve member 16 will have moved to a position wherein theopening or port 118 is out of alignment with any of the gas passageopenings or ports on the seat face 38, but the opening or port 116 willhave been placed into alignment with the opening or port 80 on the seatface 38 whereas the opening or port 114 is placed in alignment with theVopening or port 64 on the seat face 38. When the valve member 16 is inthis position, gas under pressure may flow through the passage 65(FIGURE 3) t-o the passage 62 through the .passage 112 in the valvemember 16 and then into the branch 76 to the'passage 82 so as todischarge gas out of the tubular insert 86 into the container. Thiscauses the container to be placed under counter-pressure so that thecarbonated liquid can be fiowed into the container without foaming. Y

After the pressure in the container has reached the predeter-minedvalue, the filling valve 16 is moved from the counter-pressure stageindicated by the letter B to the filling and vent stage indicated by theletter D. When in this position, the openings and 102 of the liquidpassage 98 in the valve member 16 are aligned respectively with theopenings 52 and 68 inthe seat face of -the body member 12. Liquid thenflows through the tubing 58 and liquid passage 50 into the passage 98 inthe valve element 16 and from there through the liquid passage 66 andbranches 70 and is discharged through lthe nozzles 72 down the sidewalls of the container.

A-t the time the valve member 16 is moved to the filling and ventingstage D, it will be noted that the gas passage 112 in the valve hasmoved to a position where its openings 118 and 116 are alignedrespectively with the openings 64 and 78 in the face of bodymember 12.The counter-pressure gas within the container can now be vented .throughthe tubular fitting 86 and gas passage 82 through the branch 74 where itfiows through the passage 112 in the filling valve member 16 and fromthere back to the body of gas under pressure above the carbonated liquidin the reservoir 26'by means of the passages 62 and 65.

As the liquid rises in the container C, it will eventually reach aheight where the ball float 90 will be moved vertically upwardly withinits cage 92 to a point where its upper portion engages the annular seat88 on fitting 86. This will cut ofi the fiow of vent gas through theliquid passages of the same are out of alignment with the gas and liquidpassages in said body member, and the other of said pair of lugsengaging said inst-mentioned lug when said disc valve element lis in aposition where the gas and liquid passages of the same are in alignmentwith the gas and liquid passages of said body member whereby rotation ofsaid disc valve element between a fully open and fully closed positionis limited.

9. A iilling head as claimed in claim 7 in which said liquid passage insaid valve member includes a groove having rounded ends in said discvalve element and a plate covering said groove and having aperturestherein at the extremities thereof, said plate being flush with thesurface of said disc valve element.

10. In a container filling machine for lling containers with acarbonated liquid: a iilling head, a container supporting elementarranged to move a container into and out of sealing engagement with thefilling head, said tilling head including a body member having adownwardly extending portion with a substantially horizontally extendingface adapted for sealing engagement with the container, said body memberhaving a liquid passage therethrough extending from a liquid reservoirunder pressure to the horizontal face and a gas passage therethroughextending from a body of gas under pressure to the horizontal face,valve means carried by said body member and operable by a rise of liquidin the container being filled to close said gas passage and stop ventingof gas from the container to the body of gas, and a second valve meansoperable to first open said liquid and gas passages to the respective owof liquid into a container and gas from the container to the body ofgas, said lastmentioned valve means then being operable after ow ofliquid has been stopped by said first valve means to close said gas andliquid passages at points spaced from the container, said second valvemeans also including means to place said gas passage between said firstvalve means and the point where said second valve means closes the sameinto open communication with the atmosphere after said second valvemeans has been operated to closed position and prior to said containersupporting platform lowering the container from sealing engagement withsaid lling head.

11. A container filling machine as claimed in claim 10 in which saidiirst'valve means includes a ball float carried by said body member anda valve seat adjacent the lower end of said gas passage, said ball floatbeing adapted to seat against said valve seat and close said gaspassage.

12. A container filling machine as claimed in claim 10 in which themeans of said second valve means for placing the gas passage in opencommunication with atmosphere includes a passageway carried in saidvalve means having one end continuously open to atmosphere and the otherend adapted to be brought into communication with the gas passage aftersaid rst valve means has closed said gas passage.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS LAVERNE D.GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A FILLING HEAD FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH A CARBONATED LIQUID: ABODY MEMBER PROVIDED WITH A PORTION ADAPTED FOR SEALING ENGAGEMENT WITHA CONTAINER, SAID BODY MEMBER INCLUDING A LIQUID PASSAGE EXTENDINGTHERETHROUGH AND ADAPTED TO CONNECT A LIQUID RESERVOIR UNDER PRESSUREWITH A CONTAINER, SAID BODY ELEMENT FURTHER INCLUDING A GAS PASSAGEEXTENDING THERETHROUGH AND ADAPTED TO CONNECT A BODY OF GAS UNDERPRESSURE WITH THE CONTAINER, A FIRST VALVE MEANS CARRIED BY SAID BODYELEMENT AND OPERABLE UPON RISE OF THE LEVEL OF LIQUID IN THE CONTAINERTO A PREDETERMINED LEVEL TO CLOSE SAID GAS PASSAGE ADJACENT ITS OPENINGINTO THE CONTAINER BEFORE THE CONTAINER IS REMOVED FROM THE FILLINGHEAD, AND A SECOND VALVE MEANS CARRIED BY SAID BODY MEMBER ANDCOOPERATING WITH SAID LIQUID AND GAS PASSAGES AND OPERABLE TO OPEN SAIDPASSAGES TO ESTABLISH LIQUID FLOW TO THE CONTAINER AND VENT FLOW OF GASTO THE BODY OF GAS, SAID SECOND VALVE MEANS BEING OPERABLE TO CLOSE SAIDLIQUID AND GAS PASSAGES AFTER THE CONTAINER IS FILLED AND AFTER SAIDFIRST VALVE MEANS IS CLOSED AT POINTS SPACED FROM THE CONTAINER, SAIDSECOND VALVE MEANS INCLUDING MEANS TO REDUCE PRESSURE OF GAS IN THEPORTION OF THE GAS PASSAGE BETWEEN SAID FIRST VALVE MEANS AND THE POINTIN THE GAS PASSAGE WHERE SAID SECOND VALVE MEANS CLOSES THE SAME.